Altarpiece of the Seven Sacraments

Inside a single vast Gothic church, van der Weyden shows all seven sacraments of the Catholic Church - the sacred rites that mark a Christian life: baptism, confirmation, confession, and ordination, marriage, and last rites in the wings, with the Eucharist (the Mass) at the center. Looming over the nave is the Crucifixion, with the mourning Virgin and Saint John, making the doctrine visible: every sacrament draws its power from Christ's sacrifice. Small angels in vestment-colored robes hover above each rite. Rogier compresses theology, a convincingly deep church interior, and intense feeling into one structure - a landmark of fifteenth-century Netherlandish painting.